Ross MacLachlan

Ross MacLachlan is a Senior Teaching Fellow in the Department of Design, Manufacturing and Engineering Management at the University of Strathclyde, Faculty of Engineering. He holds an MEng in Product Design Engineering from the same institution (2001) and is actively engaged in multidisciplinary design engineering education. He facilitates key modules across undergraduate years in Electrical Concepts, Fluid Mechanics, Design Engineering, and Design Management, and supports studio-based classes including Design Emotion and Experience. He serves as the 1st-year undergraduate advisor of studies and is the local coordinator for the Joint MSc in Global Innovation Management (GIM), a collaborative program with Hamburg University of Technology and Aalborg University, previously supported by the Erasmus Mundus scholarship.

His research interests include Design Creativity, Design Education, Innovation Management Education, Creative Design Methods, Culture and Design, Open-source in Design Practice, Product Acoustics, and Engineering Pedagogy. He has led and participated in funded industry projects such as the development of a tennis court pace measurement apparatus and a system for Transoesophageal probe handling. His recent publications explore the integration of AI (e.g., ChatGPT) in engineering education, virtual-physical-digital prototyping, and co-creation models in learning.

His recent publications demonstrate a strong trend toward enhancing engineering pedagogy through technology integration, creativity enhancement, and experiential learning. Topics span AI in education, prototyping methodologies, co-creation frameworks, and analytical techniques in design assessment, reflecting a commitment to innovation in engineering education and practice.

Scientific Awards:
None listed in the provided text.

Advising and Grants:
Ross MacLachlan supervises undergraduate and postgraduate student design and research projects, as well as group industrial projects. He has been Principal Investigator or Co-investigator on multiple funded projects, including EDUWEAR (2024–2027), Creating Innovative and Active Co-learning Environments (2022–2024), KTP - Elite Bedding (2020–2022), Embedding Design Improv (2017–2021), and New Engineering Design Processes through Constructs of Humour (2015–2017). These projects focus on educational innovation, wearable rehabilitation devices, humor in design, and industry collaboration.

Labs, Teams, and Professional Activities:
He is part of the Design Research Group at Strathclyde and has been involved in organizing major events such as the International Symposium of Engineering Education (ISEE) 2022 and the Engineering Academics Network (EAN) Annual Congress. He collaborates internationally, particularly within EU-funded and UK-Turkey higher education initiatives, and contributes to academic discourse through conference participation and peer-reviewed publications.